The Department is also strong in whole system plant biology and plant evolution. Dr. Gensel utilizes Devonian fossils to understand the overall patterns of evolutionary change, while Dr. Vision uses sequenced genomes. Both Dr. White and Peet are interested in the composition and dynamics of ecosystems. 

The Department of Biology is also strong in diverse areas in animal and fungal systems, such as the genetics of signal transduction in model organisms such as yeast and Drosophila, and nematode with special emphasis on the mechanism of genome maintenance, cell division and pattern formation.  

Plant Biologists from Duke, NC State, and companies like Syngenta, Paradigm Genetics, Bayer, and BASF make the wider Research Triangle environment especially stimulating for plant biologists. Collectively, we meet once a month for the "Triangle Arabidopsis Group" informal workshop and for the monthly Plant Biology seminars sponsored by the centrally located North Carolina Biotechnology Center. We gather once per year at the North Carolina Plant Biology Retreat, typically attended by about 200 area plant scientists.